- I'm ordering everything from Amazon because I love Amazon. Did this on my last build, worked flawlessly. I also like consolidated shipping. - Why is one monitor slightly smaller than the other? The second monitor will primarily be for browsing and gaming on the side, while the larger one will be used for gaming.- I'm starting from SCRATCH: hence all the peripherals and accessories.

If you're going to be streaming a lot then I would put up the AMD FX-8350 on the table, as this will get you the best performance for both games and streaming. Otherwise, I still can't bring myself to recommend the 4770K anyway because the little gains you get for the price difference between it and the i5-4670K

If you're sticking with the Intel route though... Take a look at the list of features on that motherboard and ask yourself if you're going to use them all extensively. Because otherwise, just get a $120-$150 board and call it a day.

Higher performing RAM doesn't add much performance in actual programs. Not to mention you're going to have to tweak your motherboard anyway (i.e., it's not an automatic "oh, you're DDR3-2133, let me adjust myself for that"). Just go with DDR3-1600.

Welcome to the forums and keep us posted on the build. Few things I noticed:

If I could leave one comment, I would say upgrade the SSD to 250GBs. 128 fills up awfully quick and you can usually find 256 for about $70 more. So if that means cutting somewhere else, I think it's worth it. And since I can leave more than one comment...

I feel gold rated PSU are WAY overpriced for the change in efficiency. Stick with Seasonic if you want, but drop down to a silver, or preferably, a bronze rated system. That change alone could make up the savings you need for the bigger SSD.

The price difference in monitors is over $100 and you get 1" more. That must be one HECK of an inch! I would find a 24" monitor that sits between those 2 price-wise and buy 2 of those. Perhaps, this 24" Asus monitor that sits at $180 (which is $360 for 2 vs. $440 for the ones you selected).

Alright guys - thanks for the input I have revised my build (I don't report to my new command for 4 weeks, so It'll be about a month before I order parts. They'll change price I understand.) I took both of your advice into consideration and was able to shave hundreds of dollars off my build AND pick up the 256 GB SSD.

Latios - I actually did some research based off your recommendation for the FX-8350 and I'm probably going to go with that. I also changed the ram to a low profile 1600.

btdog - I took the 256GB upgrade, great thought. I remember my 128GB filling up quickly indeed. I also cut a big chunk of money - stuck with Seasonic (love the manufacturer) and picked up a bronze certified PSU that should cover my requirements. Finally - the reason I'm keeping the 24" Dell monitor, is because it's a higher resolution, IPS monitor with excellent reviews. However, I DID switch out the other monitor for one that's actually bigger AND cheaper, but lacks some of the bells and whistles since it mostly be for browsing.

Thanks again guys! I managed to save some money, maintain performance, and increase SSD capacity as well as the size of my second monitor. I'll post build results when its done next month, unless other recommendations come along.

I have a quick question about your computer- Are you trying to save money, or get the best possible? You have a $2500 budget, sure, but there are some things I would drop personally, and others I would pick up.

If you're trying to build a nice computer, You've got a GREAT start so far.

1st: I argue that Bronze is weak, silver is the minimum I will (personally) buy. That's because I want the max % of power for the money I spend. Consider looking further into PSU's, because certain brands don't even turn on the Fan until 50 (or more) load. Also, if you want to upgrade/add more parts in your computer in the future, get a 750W or 850W with a decent rating.

If you want the noise down, do as I said, but get a 1250W Bronze/silver PSU that only turns on the fan under load. It seems a silly thing, but can make a big difference

EDIT: I just learned this: Newegg combo of the Cooler Master 1000W PSU Has a newegg $30 combo deal with your Kingston 2x4GB and a $40 rebate. If you got that PSU you could in the future run a Crossfire build... or finish out your budget with 2 7970's.

3rdly- Your RAM. I know this might be silly, but did you know that you can get more power out of 2 8GB sticks of ram than 4 4GB sticks? That's because of distribution of loads. Do some research, and maybe even consider a single 8GB stick- it's silly, but you can also overclock that one stick to the blazing fast speeds you wanted initially, AND you could pick up a 2nd stick later. That, or just buy the 2x8 GB sticks - You'll nearly never run out of RAM with 8 GB, promise. Prices have risen quite a bit since I purchased my 2x8 Corsair Vengeance's, but you can get some single sticks for ~$50 see here ncix (yes i know out of stock but you can still order). A ctrl-f on the pc partpicker list of RAM reveals an exhaustive list of ram for 1x8 GB.

Nice price on that Motherboard. Don't think you'll be disappointed for the money. I got an ASRock 990, waiting for the CPU to come in.

Consider dropping the 770 and instead going for a Radeon 7970 for $100 less while maintaining competitiveness with a 770. See Newegg 309.99 It won't blow your socks off, but it will manage to keep you sane!

Just some thoughts. Also, the be quiet! brand is very expensive, but also they do have fantastic results. Nevertheless, the guy above me has a point.

From my observations of taking a Kill-A-Watt to my rig, I'm finding out that people are grossly overestimating how much power they need. And even I'm starting to feel I'm overestimating. Now you may be going "But wouldn't it be better to have a power supply that can supply more power than what you need?" Sure. But you may as well tell me that you should cough up the dough for a i7-3990X, because it's better to have the CPU power, in case you need it. No, it's finding a fine line between how much you should be spending and how much you need plus room for improvement.

In my case, I run a Core i5-2500 with a GeForce GTX 670 system with 2x4GB of RAM, two SSDs, and an HDD, plus some other hardware that doesn't really add much. It draws 230W off the wall when running a game like Crysis (Which I figured was a taxing enough game). It was probably this more or less when doing a 3DMark 11 run. My power supply is an 80PLUS Bronze so give or take it was really using 160W-188W. So really, this computer should be able to take a 300W power supply and run just fine. But what if you want to add another video card? Before this, I had two GTX 560 Ti's in there and the total system consumption was 330W or so (although I didn't do a single card test so I can't figure out what one card approximately takes).

tl;dr, the 620W power supply is fine, if you're getting a single card. If you're going for two, then 750W-850W is recommended. However, I advise against two card systems because with the monitors you've chosen, a single high end card will for all intents and purposes run every game at maximum detail at that resolution above 30FPS and most games at 60FPS or higher.

And even if you wanted to get two cards now to delay upgrading, the opportunity cost I feel is going to essentially be 0. Assuming current trends persist and you go on a two year upgrade path, whatever comes out in two years will cost the same and perform on par if not better than the two cards. And high-end cards don't drop off in price as low as you'd like. A lot of high-end cards that are low-tier now still retail for $200 or more.

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